Otterbein College was a client of academic costume manufacturer Cotrell & Leonard in 1902, according to Concerning Caps, Gowns and Hoods: Bulletin 17 (1902). As Cotrell & Leonard was also the depository of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Academic Costume (IBAC), the IBAC had no doubt assigned a hood lining pattern to Otterbein by 1902 at the latest. But no description of the college’s hood was given in that catalogue. The first definitive and complete IBAC description of Otterbein’s hood lining was in 1927 where it was stated to be bright red with a beige chevron. Strangely, the Intercollegiate Bureau described the shade of the university’s cardinal as “bright red”, a phrase normally used to describe scarlet. The IBAC also described Otterbein’s tan chevron as “beige”. This description did not change in subsequent hood lining lists from the Bureau.

Likewise, in Academic Heraldry in America (1962) and Academic Dress and Insignia of the World (1970), Kevin Sheard recorded the college’s hood as being cardinal with a tan chevron.